The Orthodox Church of Ukraine issued a statement on Jan. 6, through Facebook, citing the possibility of aggressive behavior against Russian churches in Ukraine by pro-Russian forces using the name of Ukrainian nationalist organizations to spark a religious confrontation.
According to church authorities, chaplains from all over the country cite a growing number of provocations against the Moscow-backed Ukrainian Orthodox Church from activists using the name of Right Sector, a Ukrainian nationalist organization.
“The organizers of these provocations call for the use of force against the clergy of the Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine and their followers. The provocations should take place on cameras to create a media image of the “persecution” and a “religious war” in Ukraine, which are constantly brought up by Kremlin media,” the Ukrainian church said in a Facebook post.
On the same day, the Right Sector issued a statement on their official website denying any involvement in attacks on churches and pledged to act within the law, stating that their name might be used by pro-Russian forces to generate violence for Russian state media.
A number of high-rankinig Ukrainian officials in the past week stated that Russia might provoke religious violence in Ukraine to promote its own agenda.
Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine’s minister of foreign affairs, while answering questions by the media on Jan. 5 from Istanbul – where the newly established Orthodox Church of Ukraine received independence on Jan. 6 – said that provocations will take place to depict the newly established Ukrainian church in a bad light. “Most certainly and I’m not saying this simply to increase tension,” Klimkin said, according to Gordonua news agency.
The statement was supported by Stepan Poltorak, Ukraine’s defense minister. As part of the same delegation, Poltorak said that he is aware of possible staged conflicts.
“Over the past years Russia has been provoking and conducting aggression against Ukraine. Recently its activity against Ukraine has increased significantly, and of course, we are receiving information about the possibility of provocations by the Russian Federation, but we are tracking and responding accordingly,” said Poltorak, according to Gordonua.
